April was an historic month for tornadoes in the United States, as reflected in the tragic monthly data released by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Friday.
There were 14 events defined as "killer tornadoes" by the SPC in April. That's the fifth-most ever recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the most since 43 occurred in April of 2011.
The 14 killer tornadoes in April were more than occurred in all of 2019 (12). In fact, there haven't been more killer tornadoes than April's 14 in any single year since 2012 (22).
Also, the 40 fatalities in April is the most in any month since May of 2013. Three two-day events in April resulted in the following death tolls: April 12-13 (32 deaths); April 19-20 (2); April 22-23 (6).
Easter Sunday (April 12) saw the most tornado-related fatalities in one day (32) since March 2, 2012 (41). The deaths occurred in Mississippi (12), South Carolina (9), Georgia (8) and Tennessee (3).
The preliminary count of 351 tornadoes in the month was the second-most of any April, according to SPC records, topped only by April 2011 (1,085).
Only once in the last three years has any month surpassed April's preliminary total of 351 tornadoes. That was the record-setting month of May 2019, when 506 tornadoes struck throughout the U.S.
April's total is 41 percent more than the three-year average for April tornadoes of 205. And April's 351 tornadoes is almost 50 percent higher than the average of 178 from 1991-2015, according to SPC records.
A total of 583 tornadoes have occurred so far in 2020, according to the SPC's preliminary reports. The three-year average is 427, meaning there have been 26 percent more tornadoes this year. However, 2020 so far is 45 percent higher than the four-month average of 321 from 1991-2015.
For all of 2020, AccuWeather predicts a normal to slightly above-normal number of tornadoes, with a range of 1,350 to 1,450. That range would cover what occurred in 2019 (1,422) and is 5 to 15 percent more than the United States annual average (between 1,253 and 1,297 tornadoes occur annually in the U.S.).
Although tornadoes can occur at any time, the U.S. tornado season typically runs from March through November or sometimes into early December. Tornadoes cause an average of 80 U.S. fatalities annually, and tornadoes and their destruction killed a total of 41 people in 2019.
The current average number of U.S. tornadoes per year based on long-term data is lower than what actually occurs each year. That's because the number of tornadoes reported annually has been rising over the past few decades mainly because more are reported as the U.S. population has risen and more people have access to mobile devices and cameras. Many tornadoes of the past were not seen or recorded; this change may amount to an increase of reported tornadoes of up to 20 percent over the last 40 years and 10 percent over the past 20 years.
Related video: Why do tornado outbreaks occur?
